HOMER — The Brandywine girls basketball team picked a bad time to have a terrible night shooting the basketball.

The Bobcats went 5-of-48 from the floor (10 percent) in their 32-22 Class C regional semifinal loss to Bronson Tuesday night.

It was not the first time this season that Brandywine had struggled shooting the basketball, but the Bobcats were always able to overcome that by playing solid defense.

Veteran coach Josh Hood said the defense was not the problem.

“If you had told me before that game that if we get to 32 points, we’d have a chance to win the game, I would have felt we had a really good chance,” he said. “They were in the 20s, too, until the final minute. The defense was there.

“But this was the game we were scared of. It was ugly like some other games that we had like the game at Parchment, or Bridgman or Buchanan. The defense has never wavered. We gave up a few more offensive rebounds than we had been. But the bottom line is when you get to the regional level, you’ve got to put the ball in the basket.”

Both teams struggled out of the gate.

Bronson had five turnovers and an air ball before finally getting on the scoreboard.

Brandywine unable to capitalize on the slow start and only led 9-7 at the end of the opening quarter.

Bronson (17-7) seemed to find some rhythm in the second quarter, but were only able to tie the game at 15-15 heading into halftime.

After shooting 4-of-23 in the first half, Brandywine was hoping to get it going in the final 16 minutes.

It never happened as the much-taller Vikings held the Bobcats of 1-of-25 shooting in the second half and outrebounded Brandywine 51-33 for the game.

Bronson forged ahead 23-17 after three quarters, but were never able to put the Bobcats away.

Brandywine kept hanging around as both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket.

Forced to foul late in the game, the Vikings were able to stretch their advantage to double digits as the final horn sounded.

Nicole Sachman led the Bobcats with 13 points and was the lone Brandywine player in double figures. Leading scorer Zakiyyah Abdullah finished with just three points. She entered the game averaging more than 17 points per contest.

Bronson did not have a player reach double figures, but was led by Kiera Lasky’s nine points. Kiana Mayer added eight.

 

BRONSON 32, BRANDYWINE 22

At Homer

BRONSON 32

Adyson Lasky 4, Kiana Mayer 8, Ashton Wronikowski 2, Kiera Lasky 9, Payton Robinson 5, Meghan Vaughn 0, Keona Salesman 4. TOTALS: 11 8-17 32.

BRANDYWINE 22

Nicole Sachman 13, Kennedy Byrd 0, Makena Bowen 3 Zakiyyah Abdullah 3, Mia Stella 3, Megan Schmidt 0, Cassie Luczkowski 0, Chelsie Luczkowski 0. TOTALS: 5 10-18 22.

 

Bronson        7          15       23       32

Brandywine  9          15       17       22

3-point shooting: Bronson 2 (K. Lasky 2,), Brandywine 2 (Abdullah 1, Stella 1). Total fouls (fouled out): Bronson 13 (none), Brandywine 16 (none). Varsity records: Bronson 17-7, Brandywine 19-5.